Monday, August 18, 2014

Harvest Monday - August 18, 2014

I harvested about 2/3 of the Rossa di Milano onions this
past week.The stems had fallen and,
even though I would have preferred to leave them in the ground for about a week or so afterwards (as I often see recommended), we were in for a couple of rainy
days so I thought it best to get them out of the ground after only a few
days.I included a couple of the very
small onions in the tally as I used these in the kitchen this week, but the
rest will be tallied after they are cured & ready for storage.

Rossa di Milano Storage Onions

Also new this week were three different varieties of squash.The most impressive by far was the Zucchetta Tromboncino.I harvested it when it was about 20” long and
then sliced it up & tossed it into a grill pan on the bbq.It was amazing!The flavour was wonderful, as was the texture
– firm yet tender.We just loved it.

Zucchetta Tromboncino

Also harvested were two yellow summer squashes (Early
Prolific) and one zucchini (Dark Green) – both being the first harvest from
these plants.

Summer Squash - Dark Green (left) and Early Prolific (right)

So far I am not overly impressed with either of these
varieties, certainly as far as production or earliness goes.However, my squash plants are, once again,
not thriving.They are all still tiny,
with only one plant (Sure Thing) being of modest size.No surprise that this particular plant is the one
that has produced the most so far. Once
I figure out how to grow a decent sized squash plant in my garden, then I will
be in a better position to judge between different varieties.

The one positive that has come out of our unusually cool
summer has been the continuous lettuce supply.I pick lettuce on a cut and come again basis and this second seeding is doing
very well, providing us with lots of tender leaves.

Lettuce - Pinares (left) and Sierra MI (right)

I had a large harvest of the Golden of Bacau beans.So far, I have been able to keep ahead of the
bacterial brown spot.Only a small portion
of the beans have been tossed, primarily those that were near the
bottom of the vines.

Golden of Bacau Romano Beans

The tomatoes have really started to roll in – I harvested
over 18 lbs this week!I’m thinking that
this coming week I will make my first attempt at canning some sauce and/or tomatoes.

Gypsy Tomato Harvest

I waited a bit too long to harvest a couple of the Gypsy
tomatoes which is evident by the cracking that you can see on the tomato at the
bottom.

The last four tomato varieties finally started to ripen this
past week:Costoluto Genovese, Cherokee
Purple, Mountain Merit and Speckled Roman.

This week I also harvested a few leaves from the Tyee
spinach plants.The spinach has not been
thriving but I’m seeing it pick up just a bit after I removed the pea vines
that were leaning over this section of the bed and blocking most of the light.

Tyee Spinach

I also harvested some Mei Qing Choi and had my first taste.They were delicious – I am
quite taken with this variety.

Mei Qing Choi Chinese Cabbage

Also harvested this week but not photographed were several
cucumbers, which are coming in slow but steady.

My harvest totals this week were:

Beans – 1,615 grams (3.56 lbs)

Chinese Cabbage – 350 grams (0.77 lbs)

Cucumbers – 1,614 grams (3.56 lbs)

Lettuce – 198 grams (0.44 lbs)

Onions – 170 grams (0.37 lbs)

Spinach – 112 grams (0.25 lbs)

Squash – 2,166 grams (4.78 lbs)

Tomatoes – 8,506 grams (18.75 lbs)

Total for Week – 14.73 kg (32.48 lbs)

Total to Date – 68.94 kg (151.97 lbs)

To see what everyone else has been harvesting over the past
week, head on over to Daphne’s
Dandelions, our host for Harvest Mondays.

Till next time…☺

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things” ~~ Robert Brault

Thanks Jenny. The spinach is actually not technically for the fall - this planting is just the latest in a long string of attempts since the spring to grow a decent crop of spinach. Hopefully I'll meet with success at some point :)

I don't have much experience with different varieties so I'm trying quite a few at a time to see which ones work best here. I was actually overwhelmed when ordering seeds, there were so many to choose from - so many tomato varieties, so little space!

Beautiful harvests, especially your tomatoes! And that Zucchetta Tromboncino looks so interesting. I have several plants for Early Prolific yellow squash and am also not impressed with that variety. My plants are also very small and not producing well (one of the plants finally has a single squash that is growing). Considering this variety is called "Early Prolific," I am particularly unimpressed because this is rather late to be getting a single squash.

The red onions look great, I think you were right to pull them before the rain. The Tromboncino is an interesting squash. This year I tried having it share a trellis with the Musica beans. That didn't work out so well since the beans got going early and shaded out the squash. It's flowering now but they are all male flowers, so yours is the first I have seen.

Mine had only male flowers for quite a while before the first female one showed up. It's just now setting it's second squash. I'm not sure how prolific it is in general as squash plants just don't seem to do well for me.

Thanks Norma - it definitely was tough in the spring when faced with the hundreds of different tomato varieties to choose from. I had actually only planted to grow 6 or 7 varieties but I ended up with 12 - just couldn't help myself!

Lovely harvest and you have such a nice variety to grace your table. I have never tried to grow a Tromboncino but my yellow squash have not produced a lot yet. Did get quite a few zucchini but had two containers with them in and think they are about done. One had some kind of little bugs on it so I pulled it out. Nancy

I am amazed that you are getting spinach in August! I couldn’t do that here. Before summer ends, I am going to have to let one of those Tromboncinos get really long and try it on the grill. Your tomatoes look like they could be in a magazine advertisement for heirlooms!

Darn, I wrote a long comment then accidentally logged out and lost it, I'm too clumsy! Anyway, it was something like....I think one of my friends is growing trombocino over here, will see how they're doing, looks like just one fruit is equivalent to several courgettes! With all your tom varieties have you seen much difference in quality? I've grown cute little Red Pear this year and they seem more susceptible to blossom end rot?

So far, I have noticed that a couple are more prone to cracking, especially the Gypsy. The only BER I've had so far was on one tomato from a "mystery" variety that my son brought home from a school field trip to an agricultural centre. But all my plants are all coming down with some sort of blight - even the resistant ones have a few yellow leaves - our cool damp weather this year is taking its toll. I have noticed a big difference in texture with a few being more grainy than others. I'm hoping to do a tasting lineup soon.

And I have definitely been there - you finish a comment and then close the page without clicking submit....and then you sit there kicking yourself, of course ;)

Oh no sorry to hear you have some kind of blight, luckily I've never had it on my indoor toms. I did get it the one time I grew them outside so then didn't grow outdoors anymore. Have managed to fit 21 plants in my lean to at home. Most doing well except two.

t's turned v cool here too and everything slowing down. Hope to do a tom taste test soon as well :) thanks for the interesting info.

Yes! It's really what made us get this house! It's just stuck right on the back, so easy to pop in and out. Nothing posh, just an aluminium frame with paving and brick base round the front side. Good for raising plants too though gets v hot and some tend to get frazzled. But definitely get one if you can.

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